Ajay Kamalakaran - The Vertical

3 immigrant fempreneurs reshaping North America’s creative and media industries

- Entrepreneurs
- Strategy

These three women stand at the center of a major technological shift, changing how the creative economy operates. In their pursuit of success, they first needed to rewire their minds and cultivate new beliefs.

From busboy to millionaire: How this Bangladeshi immigrant made his big break in the U.S. restaurant industry

Lunchbox founder Nabeel Alamgir has worked his way up from bussing tables at a fast food chain to being featured on Forbes’s ‘30 Under 30’ list and securing $20 million in VC funding.

Clubhouse co-founder Rohan Seth. Credit: Rohan Seth/Twitter

How Indian American Clubhouse co-founder Rohan Seth started a global audio revolution

Launched in April 2020, the audio-only app Clubhouse now has more than 10 million weekly active users around the world. Its success has led to Twitter introducing Spaces, Spotify launching Greenroom, and Facebook announcing live audio rooms. Despite the Clubhouse boom, few users are aware that one of the app’s co-founders, Rohan Seth, was born in India and raised in its capital city, Delhi.

Hoppers & curry. Photo by Broken Simulacra. Source: Flickr

Sri Lankan immigrant entrepreneurs bring taste of home to NYC’s Staten Island

Demand for spices, curry powder, and the taste of home Sri Lankans crave has kept Staten Island’s restaurants and groceries afloat during the pandemic.

How South Asian women are breaking into the U.S. entrepreneurship scene

- Development
- Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship, especially for women, has traditionally been shunned as “risky” in South Asian culture, but times have changed. A new generation of immigrant women business leaders is rising in the U.S.

Untouchables in Varanasi/Luisen Rodrigo, Flickr

India’s “untouchable” Dalits find liberation in American entrepreneurship

Dalits, the lowest caste in the Hindu hierarchy, are victims of thousands of attacks in India each year. In the U.S., Dalit immigrants are escaping discrimination from fellow Indians by creating their own businesses.

How Sikhs are living the great Indian trucking dream in the U.S.

- Community
- Immigration

In the 1980s, a large number of Sikhs fled a violent insurgency in their home state of Punjab for the U.S. They began their American careers in the trucking and logistics business, where many had worked before in India.

How South Indian classical music entrepreneurs make it in America

- Community

With Indian immigration rising in the U.S. over the last several decades, Carnatic music, a classical system associated with southern India, is thriving.

How American entrepreneurs are making India great again

- Development
- Entrepreneurs

In the pre-COVID-19 era, a common sound at a Mumbai Starbucks was a loud American accent. U.S. citizens with Indian backgrounds are returning to their motherland, and technological prowess is moving back with them.